Legislation: Finding legislation

Guide last updated by Alice Tyson, July 2021

Legislation is arranged in the library according to jurisdiction and is identified by the letter E in the middle of the classmark, for example;

GA2.E.1   Great Britain: Statutes in force

If you are unsure of the location of that classmark in the library, check the floor directory or the guide to Classmarks and the Location of Resources in the Library.

Finding printed legislation for a particular jurisdiction

There are a number of different ways to find out which series of legislation the library has for a particular jurisdiction.

Method 1 - classmark search

Look up the jurisdiction and the sub-heading Legislation on the Guide to classmarks. This gives you the general classmark for the jurisdiction. Legislation is always designated by .E. For example;

DENMARK. Legislation GO9.E
GHANA. Legislation GH3.E
GREAT BRITAIN. Legislation GA2.E

Once you know the general classmark you can then run a Classmark search on the Library Catalogue to find out the names of the series of legislation held in the library. Note down the full classmark.

Method 2 - subject search

Search by Subject on the Library Catalogue for law and the jurisdiction you are interested in, for example;

law denmark

This will let you view all of the legislation we hold on that jurisdiction and give you the classmark.

Method 3 - research guide

Check the relevant Jurisdiction Research Guide, or International Law Research Guide if available, as they will introduce you to the key series of legislation. Alternatively, check the Foreign Law Guide database which gives details of the printed (and electronic) sources of legislation for almost every country. When you have the title of the series, run a Title search on the Library Catalogue to see if it is held in the library and to find the classmark.

Finding codified legislation in the library

The codes of civil law countries are treated as books at IALS and therefore are not denoted by the letter E. There are a couple of ways to find codified legislation at IALS:

Method 1

Look up the jurisdiction and the title of the code on the Library Catalogue using the Author / Title option, for example;

france / code civil

Hint: If you are unsure of the title of the code, check the Jurisdiction Research Guide, if available. Alternatively check the Foreign Law Guide database which gives details of the printed (and electronic) sources of legislation for almost every country.

Method 2

Look up the subject of the code and the jurisdiction on the Library Catalogue using the Subject search option, for example;

civil law france

Finding legislation for a particular jurisdiction online

The library subscribes to a wide range of databases containing legisltaiotn. All of the databases subscriben to are listed on the Law Databases page of the IALS webiste. Some databases, such as Westlaw International Materials and Lexis International contain legislation for multiple jurisdictions; others contain legislation for a single jurisdiction. If you aren't sure which database covers the jurisdiction you are interested in:

• Look at the list of resources in the Law Databases; the 'more information' buttons underneath the database names provide an overview of coverage for each database;
• Refer to our Databases Guide;
• Refer to the relevant Jurisdiction Research Guide or International Law Research Guide, if available (these will often contain links to free sources of legislation on the web where available);
• Refer to the Quick Guides to Key Databases.

Finding a specific piece of legislation in print

It is not possible to search for individual statutes or statutory instruments on the Library Catalogue as they are not catalogued individually. If you would like to check if a specific piece of legislation is available in print in the library try the following steps:

1. Check the indexes/tables of the relevant legislation series. Please refer to the above section on Finding legislation for a particular jurisdiction if you are unsure which series are available.

2. Check the digests for the relevant jurisdiction.

Finding a specific piece of legislation online

The library subscribes to a wide range of databases containing legisltaiotn. The databases are listed in the Law Databases page. Some databases, such as Westlaw International Materials and Lexis International contain legislation for multiple jurisdictions; others contain legislation for a single jurisdiction. If you aren't sure which database covers the jurisdiction you are interested in:

• Look at the list of resources on the Law Databases page; the 'more information' buttons underneath the database names provide an overview of coverage for each database;
• Refer to our Databases Guide;
• Refer to the relevant Jurisdiction Research Guide or International Law Research Guide, if available (these will often contain links to free sources of legislation on the web where available);
• Refer to the Quick Guides to Key Databases.

If you are looking for legislation on a specific subject you may like to try the following options.

Finding printed legislation on a particular subject

1. Check the indexes/tables of the relevant legislation series, as they are often arranged by subject, e.g. Halsbury's statutes of England and Wales (GA2.E.40)

2. Check digests and encyclopaedias for the relevant jurisdiction. These generally summarise legislation for specific jurisdictions by subject, e.g. Australian current law (GD1.H.6)

3. Textbooks will provide a good introduction to the key pieces of legislation in a particular area of law.

Finding legislation on a particular subject online

The library subscribes to a wide range of databases containing legisltaiotn. The databases are listed in the Law Databases page. Some databases, such as Westlaw International Materials and Lexis International contain legislation for multiple jurisdictions; others contain legislation for a single jurisdiction. If you aren't sure which database covers the jurisdiction you are interested in:

• Look at the list of resources in the Law Databases page; the 'more information' buttons underneath the database names provide an overview of coverage for each database;
• Refer to our Databases Guide;
• Refer to the relevant Jurisdiction Research Guide or International Law Research Guide, if available (these will often contain links to free sources of legislation on the web where available);
• Refer to our Guides to Key Databases.

If you need to locate legislation which is not available in the Library in either printed or electronic form, here are some suggestions for tracking it down in another library or online:

• Search the FLAG Foreign Law Guide database. This is an inventory database of the holdings of primary legal materials for foreign jurisdictions of academic and national libraries around the UK. You can search by country and type of legal material to discover which libraries in the UK hold legislation for the relevant jurisdiction.
• Check the Eagle-i internet portal to see whether there is any freely available legislation for that jurisdiction on the web;
• Check WorldLII for links to freely available online legislation.
• Check the Foreign Law Guide database which gives details of electronic and printed sources of legislation for almost every country.

If you require further assistance please ask the staff at the Enquiry Desk or email the reference desk at ials@sas.ac.uk

There are a number of publications to help you find an answer to this question, depending on jurisdiction.

For England and Wales, both Lexis+ and Westlaw can be used to find out if a law is in force. If using print materials, the series Halsbury’s Statutes includes two volumes:

Is it in Force? A guide to the commencement of the statutes of England and Wales and of Scotland passed since 1 January 1960. This gives dates of royal assent for statutes, and dates of commencement for different sections. It should be used in conjunction with the Statutes Citator.

Halsbury’s Statutes Citator A guide to the current status of statutes. The laws are listed alphabetically by year, with details of any amendments, repeals, etc.

Please note that for UK legislation, the default on Lexis+ and Westlaw is to show legislation with amendments.

For other jurisdictions, look for a citator, index or updated table of legislation in either the legislation sequence on the shelves or in the digest sequence, e.g. for Canada look in GC1.E (the legislation sequence) or GC1.H (the digest sequence).

Online sources are available for certain jurisdictions and are often quicker to publish the amended and updated versions of the law. See our Databases guide if you are unsure which database to use and refer to the help pages on your chosen database.